The present invention is directed in general to monitoring operational parameters and fault-related information of a vehicle, for example, a railroad locomotive, and more specifically, to a method and apparatus for remotely controlling and configuring the monitoring process.
Cost efficient vehicle operation, especially for a fleet of vehicles, requires minimization of vehicle down time, and especially avoidance of line-of-road or in-service failures. Failure of a major vehicle system can cause serious damage, require costly repairs, and introduce significant operational delays. When the vehicle is a railroad locomotive, a line-of-road failure is an especially costly event as it requires dispatching a replacement locomotive to pull the train, possibly rendering a track segment unusable until the disabled train is moved. Therefore, the health of the vehicle engine and its constituent sub-assemblies is of significant concern to the fleet operator.
One apparatus for minimizing vehicle down time.,measures performance and fault-related operational parameters during vehicle operation. This information can provide timely and important indications of expected and actual failures. With timely and nearly continuous access to vehicle performance data, it is possible for repair experts to predict and/or prevent untimely failures. The on-board monitor collects, aggregates, and communicates performance and fault related data from an operating vehicle to a remote site, for example, to a remote monitoring and diagnostic center. The data is collected periodically or upon the occurrence of certain triggering events (i.e., anomalous conditions) or fault conditions that occur during operation. Generally, anomalous or fault data is brought to the attention of the vehicle operator directly by these vehicle systems, but typically the vehicle lacks the necessary hardware and software elements to diagnose the condition. It is therefore advantageous to utilize an on-board monitor to collect and aggregate the information and at the appropriate time send it to a remote monitoring and diagnostic service center. Upon receipt of the performance data at the remote site, data analysis tools operate on the data to identify the root cause of potential or actual faults. Experts in vehicle operation and maintenance also analyze the received data. Historical data patterns of anomalous data can be important clues to an accurate diagnosis and repair recommendation. The lessons learned from failure modes in a single vehicle can also be applied to similar vehicles in the fleet so that the necessary preventive maintenance can be performed before a line-of-service break down occurs. If the data analysis process identifies incipient problems, certain performance aspects of the vehicle can be derated to avoid further system degradation and farther limit violations of operational thresholds until the vehicle can undergo repair at a repair facility. Personnel at the remote monitoring and diagnostic center also develop review the operational data to generate repair recommendations for preventative maintenance or to correct faults.
An on-board monitor aboard a vehicle monitors and collects data indicative of the locomotive operation from several locomotive control systems. This data is stored within the on-board monitor and downloaded to a remote monitoring and diagnostic center for analysis and the generation of repair recommendations. Generally, the downloads occur on a periodic basis, but certain fault events on the vehicle trigger an immediate download. The on-board monitor operates under control of one or more configuration files stored within it. Among other things, these files include the identity of the operational parameters to be collected and also the events that require an immediate download to the remote monitoring and diagnostic center. The remote monitoring and diagnostic center provides these configuration files and can modify the configuration files as required to change the operational characteristics of the on-board monitor. When the configuration files are changed at the remote monitoring and diagnostic service center, they are uploaded to the on-board monitor whenever a communications link is established between the on-board monitor and the remote monitoring and diagnostic center.